VBelo Scouting Report: March 01, 2023
VBelo Scouting Report: March 01, 2023
Bows and Waves: Round 1
There was limited action yesterday and also limited drama. The biggest win came from independent Tusculum defeating Lees-McRae in straight sets. The Bobcats have looked very good in conference play so this may have just been a one off. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back Thursday against Queens, another IVA opponent.
The past two days, King University cancelled their matches against Lincoln Memorial and Queens. Yesterday, they announced the cancelation of 7 total matches. From looking at their schedule, it appears that if King played all of their scheduled matches, they would exceed the 28 matchday limit from the NCAA.
Starting today, the next few weeks will tell us a lot about some of the top teams. Hawai’i is taking on the national player of the week Jaylen Jasper and the Pepperdine Waves. VBelo has the Rainbow Warriors as the heavy favorite. It may seem wild that the odds of Hawai’i beating Pepperdine are the same as UCSB beating Vanguard (85/15). Home court advantage (and travel) does play a role in this calculation. Additionally, VBelo considers Hawai’i to be an incredibly strong team, the strongest in the country. Pepperdine is ranked #10 in VBelo right now but Hawai’i is more than 200 VBelo points ahead of Pepperdine.
There is definitely a path to victory for Pepperdine, but it will be an uphill battle for the Waves (and water doesn’t like to go uphill).1
Match Recaps
Non-conference
Erskine (72%) def. Benedict (28%)
3-1 (25-14, 15-25, 25-15, 27-25)
Gino Briglio (EC) had 49 assists to lead the Flying Fleet to a .264 hitting percentage.
Limestone (57%) def. Belmont Abbey (43%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-16)
Jakub Osiewala (LU) was a force to be reckoned with. He finished with 15 kills (.538%) and 6 aces in the sweep.
Tusculum (33%) def. Lees-McRae (67%)
3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-23)
Tusculum out-hit (.284 to .033) and out-blocked (11 to 4) Lees-McRae in the win.
Maryville (63%) def. Milwaukee Engineering (37%)
3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-18, 25-20)
Cameron Chambers (MU) set the pace for the Saints with 29 assists and 14 digs.
Match Projections
MPSF
Concordia-Irvine (5%) vs UCLA (95%)
Non-conference
Pepperdine (15%) vs Hawai'i (85%)
Vanguard (15%) vs UC Santa Barbara (85%)
Central State (17%) vs Ball State (83%)
Warner (25%) vs Edward Waters (75%)
Milwaukee Engineering (53%) vs Quincy (47%)
Tweet of the Day
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